Palliative Care NSW has just published our new and improved volunteer training manual, the Palliare Handbook.
Palliare: A handbook for palliative care volunteers in NSW is now in it’s third edition. This handbook offers foundational knowledge and practical guidance for people volunteering in palliative settings and is our main resource on offer to services looking to train new volunteers. People familiar with the resource will notice it has undergone a significant refresh.
Volunteer Services Support Program Manager, Kate Bowman, says, ‘We wanted a resource that would make it easier for volunteer managers to deliver comprehensive training to their new cohorts of volunteers. This meant it needed to be a bit more prescriptive and needed to include up to date information that better reflects the landscape in which volunteers are active.
‘Volunteer Managers want to know that what they are teaching volunteers is founded in research and best practice so we made sure to include the most up to date information. We have new content about cultural sensitivity and diversity, VAD, volunteering in aged care settings and refreshed content on communication, spirituality, grief, loss and bereavement, boundaries, and self-care. Each chapter also includes links to videos, websites, and other text resources users can turn to further support learnings.
‘For a lot of volunteer services, the Palliare Handbook is their main training resource so we have made it easy to use and understand while covering every aspect a volunteer might need to know. It is designed to be adapted and tailored to local needs and complimented by local resources. We think volunteers will find the content easily digestible, especially when this training is delivered by their volunteer manager who can help frame the information into local contexts.
‘I’d like to acknowledge my co-authors Fiona Sivyer and Dr Peta McVey. Without their hard work the third edition of the Palliare Handbook would not be the wonderful thing it is. I am deeply grateful for their wisdom and input.’
You can download the new Palliare Handbook as a digital resource right now from our website, please click here to go to our training resources page. Please contact us if you are interested in obtaining printed copies.